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Everyone needs a break from social media once in awhile. It’s a good idea to do this regularly for your mental, emotional, and physical health. Admit it, you’ve had the desire to walk away from your Facebook account (I know I have). You may have even done it. If this is something you are considering, it’s important for you to realize there are two different ways to do this. One is temporary and the other permanent. So if you want to know how to delete your Facebook account, read on.

The temporary break is called deactivation. This is like putting your account in a deep freeze. When you are ready, you log back in and your account “wakes up” with all the notifications, activity, and noise just like before. Your content and friends are there waiting for you.

The permanent solution is called deleting your account. This wipes out all content (years of photos, videos and comments), page likes, groups, and friend relationships. You will be removed from the service altogether but it may take up to 90 days to delete data from their backup systems. If you ever decide to come back, you’ll have to rebuild. Continue reading →

As a business owner, I don’t have anyone to tell me what to do day in and day out. The fun part is I can take a long lunch (or a nap) if I fancy it. The hard part is to keep myself on task. As a consultant, I get very little time at my desk or in one place. Eight hour workdays in one place are like unicorns for me so I must pack in a lot of work in a short period of time whenever I can sit still. You’d think that because I spent years as an efficiency specialist, that I would have it all figured out. I’m no superwoman but I’ve figured out how to stay focused in the age of social media. Continue reading →

We’ve gotten some momentum on our Facebook page recently and are wondering about how you usually “follow up” with those who interact with your posts. Do you just let them come to you or do you reach out to them? Thanks!

Dear Friend,

When you follow up on social media with those that interact with your posts can be viewed as a bit creepy unless they specifically ask to be communicated with. When someone likes a post, no response is expected. When someone comments, you can reply and attempt to strike up a conversation within the comment stream. This is an opportunity to ask questions about their needs or offer further assistance. I wouldn’t do a hard pursue as it will turn people off. Continue reading →

Many people that I talk to are worried about providing a good balance of social media content so as to not come across as “too sales-y”. Lots of channels only post pitches to buy stuff without any soul or entertainment value. The majority of social media users are there to talk to friends or family, find out information, or be entertained. Non-stop commercials are no fun for anyone and hurt a brand in the long run. The algorithms that determine what people see in their feeds has a lot to do with how interesting the content is and how many people are responding to it. Put out good stuff, the algorithms serve you more – you get more engagements then you get served more. It’s a circle.

What is that balance?

I find that great social content follows the 70/20/10 rule – 70% value, 20% promotion, and 10% human. You can apply this to content you create on any platform or tool. 70% of what you’re posting should be of value to your audience. Not valuable to you or what you want to talk about, it should mean something to them. Now you’re racking your brain trying to think of what’s important to your audience.

Think about the last phone call, email, or conversation you had with a current or potential client or lead. What questions did they ask you? What were they concerned about? Frame your content around their needs and worries. Answer their questions so that when they search for information, your content may very well be served as the answer. Remember, everyone’s biggest concern is themselves and if you offer them solutions for their problems, they will view you as a vital resource. Continue reading →

I’m here to warn you about a very real and damaging action you aren’t taking and it’s inflicting a tremendous amount of damage to your brand. It’s channel abandonment. That Tumblr account you opened one weekend and put a ton of effort into and have barely posted on since. That Pinterest account you never even finished opening (no profile picture or description). The Twitter profile on which your last tweet said “I haven’t tweeted much lately but I’m back to it!” dated 3 years ago. Those channels are speaking volumes about who you are as a person or business. This is channel abandonment and feels like a desert wasteland. Your potential customers see this and leave, your current customers think you aren’t on the ball, and the vendors that want to work with you doubt your commitment.

How it happened

I get lots of questions at cocktail parties and events. “Kerry, should I be on Twitter?” Continue reading →

The longer Facebook is a part of all our lives, the more messages I receive through the Facebook Messenger app. One recent afternoon, I was communicating with 4 people all at the same time on my mobile and felt like I had whiplash. You may not know this but there’s a better way to manage these messages.

Additionally, if you do business on FB, you’ve probably recognized the shortcomings of using your phone to answer professional communications. I type 80 words a minute and get frustrated at only using my thumbs to respond. When I want to copy, paste, or record important information the limitations of mobile and it’s tiny keyboard are an efficiency killer. When I discovered that I could use Facebook Messenger through my desktop computer, I got really excited. It ends up being an open tab in my browser and an alternate/addition to my traditional email. It feels like a brilliant hack and I wanted you to know that you can use it too! Continue reading →

Facebook groups are a great way to connect with people like family, teammates, industry professionals, or coworkers. Groups are more collaborative than Pages, as everyone can have a say, and communications in groups are balanced in delivery versus just coming from the administrator. There are more than 600 million groups in use and you may have started your own. If you have and it’s outlived it’s usefulness, here’s how to delete a Facebook Group: Continue reading →

How I Became a Teacher

As an independent consultant, my job is to learn the tools and then educate others. I’ve been co-teaching a class at Sonoma State University for several years, I teach workshops at Santa Rosa Junior College, and have delivered many other day-long classes at a variety of institutions and private organizations in my work. I have taught almost daily for years. I have learned that teaching adults is very different than being a high school teacher. Continue reading →

Have you heard the news?

I’m now teaching two classes of Business Principles at Windsor High School. The regular teacher wanted to work part time so I became his partner. The class focuses on personal finance, business management, some social media skills, as well as college and career readiness. These are all areas I feel strongly about and I’m beyond excited that I get to teach young people skills that will help them make the most of their opportunities. I get to impact their lives. It gives me goosebumps if I think about it for a while.

I will continue to teach the after school extra curricular social media workshop that I started last year. It’s shorter in length than a regular class but the principal is encouraging me to develop full year curriculum for the subject. Continue reading →